Fergie's Tech Blog

Embarq Puts Bounty on Copper Thieves

Via Australian IT.

US rural telco Embarq is offering a $US5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone stealing its copper cables in Las Vegas, amid a global crime spree targeting increasingly valuable metals.

Embarq said copper cable theft had become a growing problem, particularly in Las Vegas, its largest market, where thieves had snipped away its lines.

"Copper theft is going on in any town across the nation. But we thought we'd start here because of the high number of incidents," Embarq spokesman Charles Fleckenstein said.

The company, a spin-off from Sprint Nextel, had already spent $US400,000 so far this year to repair severed cable lines in Las Vegas, he said.

posted by Fergie @ 8/22/2007 06:20:00 PM